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499 Zaratán, and the Sixth Member

A stampede of rampaging beasts.

The magical beasts have lost their minds, forming a group and rampaging, like a tsunami of magical beasts.

No, it's not just the magical beasts. The animals are also mixed in and rampaging together.

Soon, they will be upon us.

Now, what should we do? If we think about our own safety, we could just go back through the [Gate].

However, unfortunately, there is a tribe's village living in the Great Sea of Trees right ahead of the beastly tsunami.

Because of this village, we decided to defeat the demon dragon living nearby.

I don't think they'll stop in front of the village with this momentum...

"What should we do?"

"We can't just leave them."

I responded to Ende, putting away my smartphone. Pam, the chief of the tribe in the Great Sea of Trees, would also be troubled.

"Are we going to defeat lots of magical beasts!? I want to join!"

"Ah, me too! Hey, Your Majesty! Let me join too!"

"We're not defeating them. If we hunt them recklessly, it will disrupt the ecosystem."

"Eh...?"

Linne and Alice were complaining, but we can't kill them recklessly. The magical beasts are also a food source for the people living there. It's not right for us to hunt them recklessly.

"Therefore, for now, let's build a defensive wall. [Earth, come forth, earthen rampart, Earth Wall]."

I created a thick stone wall several kilometers long in front of the incoming stampede. The height is about twenty meters. A Great Wall of China that can even stop a dragon's charge. This should provide some relief.

"As always, you're reckless, Touya..."

Ende muttered in amazement. I'll erase it after the stampede is over, so it's fine.

"But won't the beasts keep crashing into the wall and get crushed at the front?"

"It's fine. When they hit the wall, they'll be transferred twenty kilometers back through the [Gate]."

As long as they keep running, they'll be in an endless loop. They should calm down once they run out of energy.

But why did the stampede happen? It usually indicates a precursor to a natural disaster.

However, there are no active volcanoes around here, and if it were an earthquake, the earth spirits would have told us.

In the end, they panicked because they sensed danger. Something that even the magical beasts perceived as a threat must have appeared...

We used the [Gate] to transfer to the top of the wall. With a thickness of over ten meters, there's no worry of falling.

From the other side of the wall, a cloud of dust rose as the herd of magical beasts approached us, as if fleeing from something.

"I see. The cause is that, huh?"

"Huh?"

Karin-neesan murmured as she looked at the endless sea of trees.

Wait, can you see something? All I see are swaying trees and a cloud of dust approaching.

[Long Sense]

Enhancing my vision, I focused on the stampede and beyond.

Hmm? It looks like a chunk of the forest is shaking... Did I just catch a glimpse of a head or something?

Staring intently, I finally realized what it was.

A turtle. A ridiculously large turtle carrying a forest on its back. Is it a behemoth?

"That's a Zaratán. It's rare to see one on land. It's a magical beast that usually lives in the sea. There are stories of people mistaking its back for an island and landing on it. And that's not a behemoth. That's its normal size."

"That's not a behemoth...?"

No, that's way too big. How many hundreds of meters is that? It must be close to a kilometer.

No wonder the magical beasts are fleeing. The stampede happened because of that.

"The Zaratán itself is a very docile magical beast. But because of its massive size, it must be a nuisance to its surroundings."

Karin-sensei's explanation gave me some relief. If that huge turtle were aggressive, it would be terrifying.

"Dad! Are you going to defeat it!?"

"Well, even if you say that..."

I didn't know how to respond to Linne's innocent question. Isn't that turtle bigger than even the evil god? Can we really defeat it? And what would we do with its enormous corpse?

"By the way, why hasn't a stampede happened until now?"

"Zaratán can hibernate for thousands of years. It probably woke up to find a forest had grown on its back."

So, it means that thing has been sleeping here for thousands of years? That's quite a long nap.

Fortunately, the Zaratán's movements are slow. But each step is huge, so it moves relatively fast. At this rate, it'll reach us.

"Why is it coming this way?"

"Isn't it coming to eat the fleeing magical beasts?"

"Ah, waking up must make it hungry."

The kids were casually chatting, but is that really the case? It doesn't seem like it could catch prey with those movements.

As I watched the Zaratán, Ende muttered softly.

"...Maybe it's heading for the sea..."

"The sea?"

"Yeah. It's originally a magical beast of the sea, right? Maybe it's trying to return to the sea."

I see. The sea. Indeed, beyond the village, there's the sea.

So the Zaratán is just trying to return to the sea. The stampede is just a byproduct.

"Then let's send it back to the sea."

"Eh~, we're not going to defeat it? I was hoping to ride the Frame Gear for the first time in a while."

"It's not about defeating everything."

I scolded the pouting Linne. Solving everything with brute force isn't something a father can be proud of. Well, I do it often, so I can't be too strict.

"But how are we going to send it back to the sea?"

"We can just transfer it to the sea with [Gate]."

With its slow movements, targeting it shouldn't be difficult, and transferring it should be no problem. The trees around that area will disappear, but they'll be crushed by the Zaratán anyway.

Strictly speaking, we'll transfer it to the coast, not the sea. Dropping it directly into the sea could cause a tsunami.

"But aren't there still animals on that turtle's back? If it goes into the sea, they'll drown."

Ugh.

Alice's casual remark left me at a loss for words. She's right.

Checking on my smartphone, there were still some animals on the Zaratán's back. Some were running around in a panic, while others remained still. If we send the Zaratán to the sea, they will undoubtedly drown.

First, we need to transfer these animals.

"Target lock. All animals on the Zaratán's back."

'Understood. ...Target lock complete.'

[Gate]

I transferred all the animals to a place away from the stampede's path.

The animals, freed from the shaking ground, fled the area as if escaping danger.

"Alright. Now we just need to transfer the Zaratán to the sea—"

'GumooOOOooo...!'

Suddenly, a sound like a greatly amplified conch shell echoed around. What's going on!?

Looking, I saw the Zaratán roaring towards the sky. Its movements had become more intense, thrashing its massive body.

"What happened all of a sudden?"

"...I can't see clearly, but there's something at its feet. It seems the Zaratán is being attacked."

"Attacked!?"

Narrowing her eyes, Karin-sensei answered. Could it be the people of the Great Sea of Trees attacking? That's reckless...!

"No. It's not the people of the Great Sea of Trees. Those are... Giga Ants. Damn, they're completely targeting the Zaratán."

Giga Ants. They're giant magical ants that form colonies and mainly live underground. Once they bare their fangs, they continue attacking until they die.

Each individual can communicate with empathy, and when one is attacked, it calls its comrades, attacking in a swarm.

When facing them, the only option for survival is to annihilate them. If you run, they will chase you to the ends of the earth.

And now, they are baring their fangs at the Zaratán. It probably crushed one of them by stepping on it. Now all the Giga Ants have turned against it.

The Giga Ants have strong mandibles that can easily tear through a human torso.

Given the Zaratán's size, it shouldn't be easily torn apart, but numbers can be overwhelming.

Army ants in the Amazon are said to be able to kill cows and horses.

From the looks of it, the Zaratán might be feeling some pain. This is bad...

I don't think the Giga Ants can defeat the Zaratán. The problem is that their attack will make the Zaratán rampage, accelerating the stampede.

"For now, let's transfer the Zaratán."

I opened a [Gate] beneath the Zaratán's feet, transferring it to the coast of the Sandra region. The fallen trees and Giga Ants were also drawn into the [Gate]. The transfer destination was a deserted beach, so it should be fine. We followed through the [Gate].

The transfer destination was a rocky coast with the sea right before us. The Zaratán, with a forest on its back, was slowly returning to the sea.

However, at its feet were thousands of Giga Ants, mercilessly attacking the Zaratán.

Its feet were covered in wounds, with flesh gouged out, and blood flowed with each step.

"Hey! Stop bullying the turtle!"

Unable to bear the sight of such pain, Alice cried out towards the Giga Ants, manifesting her "Prisma Rose" and lashing it like a whip.

“A-Alice!?”

Ende's voice echoed in vain as Alice's "Prisma Rose" struck one of the Giga Ants biting the Zaratan, and knocking it down. The Giga Ants possess empathic abilities. The pain of one is felt by all. All the Giga Ants turned their gaze towards us. This is bad.

With a creaking sound, the Giga Ants advanced towards us. It seems they have identified us as enemies.

“Hey, hey, Father! In this case, it's okay to beat them up, right? Right?”

“…Yes, you can beat them up.”

“Yay! Take that!”

Linne, delighted, punched a Giga Ant in the face. How did it come to this…?

“Fufufu. Time for a test slash!”

Beside me, Frey wielded a pair of menacing-looking twin swords, decapitating a Giga Ant. This one too, huh?

The children took down the attacking ants one after another.

Occasionally, a few ants came our way, but the children intercepted and defeated them. How eager are they to fight?

To be honest, I could probably annihilate them all with magic, but seeing the children so happy, if I did, I'd be met with a storm of boos, so I refrained.

“I don't know. It's good that they're energetic, but…”

“As a parent, it’s a bit of a complicated feeling…”

Ende and I sighed as we watched the children gleefully slaughter the Giga Ants.

They aren't exactly brutes or battle maniacs, but as girls, I wonder about their future. Will they ever get married?

…Well, even if they don’t, it’s okay.

That means it's not a problem. Yeah.

“The Giga Ants' exoskeletons sell for a high price. Collect them.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Following Karina-neesans suggestion, I stored the Giga Ants defeated by the children in the Storage.

“Prisma Hammer!”

Alice used a giant crystal flyswatter to flatten the Giga Ants in one blow. Those won't be useful as materials. I’ll give up on collecting those.

As I did this, the number of Giga Ants dwindled. Eventually, there were only a few left clinging to the Zaratan, while most of them were stored in my Storage.

The Zaratan stepped into the sea, taking the remaining Giga Ants with it. It should be okay now.

“This is the last one!”

Linne’s kick sent a Giga Ant flying onto the beach, where it lay motionless. The beach was littered with the bodies of giant ants.

There were no more Giga Ants on the coast. The Zaratan had fully submerged in the sea. It was over.

“That was fun!”

“The turtle seems to be safe.”

“Whew, that was refreshing.”

The children looked satisfied, while Ende and I could only manage strained smiles. If the kids had fun, then I guess it's all good.

“The Zaratan is leaving… It really wanted to return to the sea, huh?”

Ende muttered, watching the Zaratan head back into the sea. What an extraordinary encounter.

“Bye-bye! Don’t come back to land again!”

As the children waved from the shore, the Zaratan raised its head once in response before slowly sinking into the sea.

“It's gone.”

“Let’s return to the Great Forest. We need to confirm that the stampede has subsided.”

I teleported the children and myself back to the wall above the Great Forest.

Without the Zaratan, the stampede seemed to be winding down. The beasts and animals that had been charging straight towards us were now dispersing in all directions. It should be safe to remove the wall.

I dispelled the earth magic that had created the wall, restoring the Great Forest to its original state.

“There, that’s done. Phew. What a crazy hunt…”

“But it was fun!”

Linne replied with a beaming smile. Well, if you enjoyed it, then I guess it’s fine.

“Alright, let’s go home.”

One by one, the children entered the Gate I opened. We followed them, transferring to the salon of Brunhild Castle.

It seemed there was a tea party going on, and everyone was present, including Mel, Nei, and Lise.

“Father, we're home!”

“Oh! Alice, welcome back! Are you alright!?”

Nei, who stood up, caught Alice, who had rushed out first.

“Welcome home, Alice.”

“Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine!”

Mel and Lise also approached Alice. They must have been worried after all.

Shifting my gaze, I saw Linne clinging to Linze, and Frey being patted on the head by Hilda.

It really feels like we’re back home.

“Good work, Touya-san. Are you okay?”

“Well, okay or not, it’s over safely.”

Not knowing how to respond to Yumina’s words of encouragement, I could only reply with a wry smile.

“Touya-sama, would you like some tea? Karin-sama and Ende-san as well.”

With that, Luu prepared a tea set. Yeah, I’d like to relax a bit before dinner.

I’ll ignore the conversation between mother and daughter, ‘I will pour Father’s tea!’ ‘Stand back! This is my job!’

I sat on the sofa and leaned back. Ahh… I’m tired.

I feel like I’ve been completely at the mercy of the children’s energy.

Though I felt a sluggish fatigue, seeing Linne and the others eagerly talking to Linze and Elze about defeating the demon dragon and the Zaratan, seemed to blow away all my weariness.

…This isn’t so bad, actually.

As I was watching my children and wives happily chatting, something suddenly appeared and fell onto my stomach.

“Guh!?”

“Munyuu!?”

The strange voice came from something that had rolled off my stomach onto the sofa.

Not something, a little girl. Where did she come from… Wait, no way!?

“Father!”

As soon as she saw my face, the girl cried out and hugged me. Ah… as I thought.

“Yoshino!?”

“Yoshino Onee-chan!”

Frey and Linne shouted. Yoshino. She’s the daughter of Sakura, right? So, she teleported here.

The sixth one, huh. They’re gathering quite quickly…

For now, I gently pushed Yoshino off me.

She had light pink hair like Sakura’s, cut in a fluffy short style with neatly trimmed bangs. She wore a small cherry blossom hairpin.

If she’s Sakura’s child, she should be a demon lord, but I can’t see her horns. Are they hidden in her hair?

She’s younger than Kuhn but older than Asia, so she should be nine years old, right? She looks a bit small for her age.

She was wearing a navy blue dress with a sailor collar and lace trim. I think it’s called a sailor dress? It suits her well. Yes, she’s cute.

“…Are you Yoshino?”

“Mother!”

Seeing Sakura put down her tea cup and stand up, Yoshino left me and jumped towards Sakura, embracing her.

Sakura, on the other hand, seemed somewhat bewildered.

“Um, we-welcome home?”

“I’m home!”

Yoshino cheerfully replied. The children gathered around her.

“Geez, don’t surprise us like that!”

“Welcome, Yoshino.”

“Really, Yoshino Onee-sama…”

“Yoshino Onee-chan!”

“You’re late, Yoshino Onee-chan!”

The children chattered noisily. So, now we have Frey as the second daughter, Kuhn as the third, Yoshino as the fourth, Asia as the fifth, Elna as the sixth, and Linne as the seventh.

I’m really realizing how many children I have. With so many wives, it’s to be expected, but…

“Ah! There’s no time for that! Father, please! Help everyone!”

Yoshino turned to me with a desperate expression. Everyone? Who’s everyone?

It seems like a serious matter. There’s no way I can ignore my daughter’s plea.

I don’t really know what’s going on, but I’ll take care of it all!